Sales of used battery electric vehicles soar by 99.9 per cent in Q3

Demand for used battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have doubled in the third quarter of the year, reaching a record market share as volumes rose by 99.9% to 34,021 units, according to the SMMT. This means BEVs represent 1.8% of the used market, up from 1.0% last year.

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and hybrids (HEVs) also grew, up 34.6%, and 46.4% respectively – resulting in combined plug-ins increasing by 70.9% to comprise 2.8% of the market. Volumes for petrol and diesel cars, meanwhile, grew by 4.0% to 1,065,448 and 2.3% to 704,204 units respectively.

Overall, the UK’s used car market grew by 5.5% during the third quarter, with 1,884,160 units changing hands.

The increase marks the third successive – and best quarterly – growth of the year, with 98,713 additional transactions compared with the same period in 2022,1 following a robust increase in supply as the new car market recovers.

Volumes in each month of the quarter rose, with the strongest gain in September, up 6.3%, which helped the market deliver the best Q3 performance since 2021.

The overall market is up 4.6% to 5,563,576 units year to date, an increase of 244,094 units on 2022, although uptake remains -9.3% off pre-pandemic levels.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: The used car market continues to grow strongly, with re-energised supply unlocking demand for pre-owned electric vehicles – the result being twice as many motorists switching to zero emission motoring in the quarter. Maintaining this momentum requires growth in the new car market, to boost supply to the used sector and cement this success. Equally important is the urgent need for charging infrastructure rollout, so that all drivers can have confidence in being able to charge whenever and wherever they need."